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From: "Ori Kowarsky" <orik@sprint.ca>
Subject: (urth) Father Inire and the Deluge
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 00:18:11
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Certain things said about the Deluge, Hierodules and the Increate have =
inspired me to de-lurk and vent a bit about what I consider to be a =
rather uncritical acceptance of the "religious" or "divine" ideology =
propogated by, for want of a better term, the Briah elements on Urth.
Unless I've forgotten or misread TBONS, which is of course emminently =
possible, the Hierodules and their masters are not angels or cherubim =
come down from Heaven; they are a genetically altered "master" species =
sufficiently advanced to be able to travel throuh time and space to the =
nth degree. Despite this great power, they are material, and I believe =
fallible and wrongheaded, creatures, no different from any other =
"superior" alien species in science fiction with political or strategic =
interests in the Terran sphere. They have interfered with Urth's sun =
for their own purposes (which possibly include hobbling the ability of =
Urrth's tyrants -- or more importantly, her extra-solar "guests" -- to =
wage wars of interstellar conquest) and they are now prepared to =
interfere with Urth's sun and destiny once again, allowing Urth to =
rejoin the family of planets now that some sort of human expiation has =
been served.
I think the best summation of this state of affairs -- and, IMHO a much =
better encapsulation of the themes of TBOTNS than "Empires of Foliage =
and Flower" -- is Melito's Story -- "The Cock, the Angel and the Eagle" =
from Citadel, wherein the Angel (Briah) sends down the Eagle (the worm =
in the heart of the Old Sun/the fountain in the heart of the New Sun) to =
kick the ass of the Cock (humanity) in a neat bit of overkill, =
apparently in response to the cock's vanity and ambition. Two very =
interesting things happen at the end of the slaughter -- the Cock, =
speaking perhaps of all human nature, says it wouldn't, and couldn't, =
have acted any differently (or as Sev tells us, twice, "That we are only =
capable of being what we are remains our unforgiveable sin") and that =
the Angel has no more idea of God's will or the nature of divine justice =
than any of us do ("'The Pancreator is infinitely far from us,' the =
angel said. 'And thus infinitely far from me, though I fly so much =
higher than you. I guess at his desires -- no one can do otherwise.'").
Whether Sev was right to do what he did -- or whether he was anything =
more than a puppet in what transpired -- is open to debate. If we do =
accept that somehow he was a necessary element for the gestation of the =
New Sun (which I doubt) I'm guessing he made his choice for personal =
reasons: The Green Man from Ushas was curious, honourable and brave. =
Master Ash from Ragnarock was withdrawn, passive and aloof. I hope =
that, given the death toll involved, Sev made the right decision.
Ori
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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Certain things said about the Deluge, Hierodules and =
the=20
Increate have inspired me to de-lurk and vent a bit about what I =
consider to be=20
a rather uncritical acceptance of the "religious" or=20
"divine" ideology propogated by, for want of a better term, =
the Briah=20
elements on Urth.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Unless I've forgotten or misread TBONS, which is of =
course=20
emminently possible, the Hierodules and their masters are not angels or =
cherubim=20
come down from Heaven; they are a genetically altered =
"master"=20
species sufficiently advanced to be able to travel throuh time and space =
to the=20
nth degree. Despite this great power, they are material, and I =
believe=20
fallible and wrongheaded, creatures, no different from any other=20
"superior" alien species in science fiction with political or=20
strategic interests in the Terran sphere. They have interfered =
with Urth's=20
sun for their own purposes (which possibly include hobbling the ability =
of=20
Urrth's tyrants -- or more importantly, her extra-solar =
"guests"=20
-- to wage wars of interstellar conquest) and they are now prepared to =
interfere=20
with Urth's sun and destiny once again, allowing Urth to rejoin the =
family of=20
planets now that some sort of human expiation has been =
served.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I think the best summation of this state of affairs =
-- and,=20
IMHO a much better encapsulation of the themes of TBOTNS than =
"Empires of=20
Foliage and Flower" -- is Melito's Story -- "The Cock, the =
Angel and=20
the Eagle" from Citadel, wherein the Angel (Briah) sends down the =
Eagle=20
(the worm in the heart of the Old Sun/the fountain in the heart of the =
New Sun)=20
to kick the ass of the Cock (humanity) in a neat bit of overkill, =
apparently in=20
response to the cock's vanity and ambition. Two very interesting =
things=20
happen at the end of the slaughter -- the Cock, speaking perhaps of all =
human=20
nature, says it wouldn't, and couldn't, have acted any differently (or =
as Sev=20
tells us, twice, "That we are only capable of being what we are =
remains our=20
unforgiveable sin") and that the Angel has no more idea of God's =
will or=20
the nature of divine justice than any of us do ("'The Pancreator is =
infinitely far from us,' the angel said. 'And thus infinitely far =
from me,=20
though I fly so much higher than you. I guess at his desires -- no =
one can=20
do otherwise.'").</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Whether Sev was right to do what he did -- or =
whether he was=20
anything more than a puppet in what transpired -- is open to =
debate. If we=20
do accept that somehow he was a necessary element for the gestation of =
the New=20
Sun (which I doubt) I'm guessing he made his choice for personal =
reasons: =20
The Green Man from Ushas was curious, honourable and brave. Master =
Ash=20
from Ragnarock was withdrawn, passive and aloof. I hope that, =
given the=20
death toll involved, Sev made the right decision.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Ori</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>
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